Athletic Director

Mary T. McMullen, a Millersville special education teacher and athletics booster, died Friday at University of Maryland Medical Center of scleroderma after a lengthy illness. She was 64. Mary Wissel was born March 14, 1948, in Baltimore and raised in Catonsville. She attended Seton High School in Baltimore, where she played on the girls basketball team - including a few games at the Baltimore Civic Center, where she was thrilled to play on the same court as her favorite professional team, the Baltimore Bullets.

Baltimore Sun reporters Jeff Barker and Don Markus and intern Connor Letourneau -- co-sports editor of The Diamondback -- weigh in on the three biggest topics of the past week in Maryland sports. How did the Kevin Anderson-to-Stanford story get started, and has it really been put to rest? Jeff Barker: I don't know quite how it began. Was somebody trying to get Anderson in the mix for the Stanford athletic director position by floating his name like a trial balloon?

Two days after denying a report in the San Francisco Chronicle that said he was set to become Stanford's athletic director , Maryland AD Kevin Anderson spoke to The Baltimore Sun about a hectic Monday in which he spent a lot of time dealing with repercussions of an "irresponsible" story. Anderson, who was Stanford's director of annual giving for athletics from 1993-95, reiterated Wednesday that the report in the Chronicle was erroneous and that he hasn't "talked to anybody at Stanford, period.

Maryland athletic director Kevin Anderson said he spent much of Monday putting out “a lot of fires” after a San Francisco newspaper reported - erroneously, Anderson said - that he was on the verge of being hired as Stanford's AD. “I spent the majority of this afternoon calling - talking to my president and to supporters of the athletic department and staff members. I had to put out a lot of fires,” Anderson told the Baltimore Sun . Anderson said all of his phone calls were the product of “somebody putting some inaccurate information on the Internet.” The San Francisco Chronicle reported Stanford was to name Anderson as athletic director “assuming the two sides can agree on contract terms.” In a written statement, Anderson said: “I am not in discussions nor have I been with Stanford University regarding their open athletic director position as I am committed to being the director of athletics at the University of Maryland.” The Chronicle's report was widely disseminated via Twitter and other sources.

Erik Bakich resigned as Maryland baseball coach Wednesday to accept the same position at Michigan. The Terps will immediately begin a search for a new coach, led by deputy athletics director Nathan Pine. “I would like to congratulate Erik and thank him for the job he has done in laying a foundation for success over the past three years,” Maryland athletic director Kevin Anderson said in a news release. “While we're sorry to see Erik go, we are confident we can bring in someone who will represent our values at Maryland and who can continue the positive momentum we have built in our program.

Former Maryland guard Terrell Stoglin thinks he was wrongly portrayed, on and off the court, in College Park, and seems confident he will get a chance to change his image in the NBA. Displaying the same bravado that helped the barely 6-foot guard lead the Atlantic Coast Conference in scoring as a sophomore - not to mention exhibit the candor that sometimes got him into trouble - Stoglin said he would be surprised if he is not picked in...

Even if Towson basketball coach Pat Skerry can pull off the most drastic turnaround in college basketball history, his team will not play in the postseason next year. Towson, which finished 1-31 in Skerry's first season, was one of 10 Division I teams - three-time national champion Connecticut was another - banned from NCAA tournament play because of an unsatisfactory score in the Academic Progress Rate report released Wednesday. Maryland football, meanwhile, compiled a single-year 972 APR for the 2010-11 school year, pushing the Terps ' four-year average above the 925 penalty line (to 931)

Varsity Ex-McDaniel AD Smith hired to post by NDP Notre Dame Prep named Jamie Smith its athletic director effective July 1. He most recently served as AD for McDaniel, where he managed the school's 24-sport athletics program, coaching staff and facilities. Smith's other experience includes a 13-year tenure at Loyola College as coordinator of athletic affairs and later as associate athletic director, and a seven-year directorship of the U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association.

Although a Charlottesville, Va., jury found one man - athlete George Huguely V - criminally responsible for the beating death of Yeardley Love, his former girlfriend and fellow lacrosse player at the University of Virginia, the young woman's mother wants to hold his coaches culpable, too. Sharon Love, of Cockeysville, filed a $29.5 million civil suit this month against the state of Virginia, which operates the university; the school's athletic...

As a reporter, you are taught to keep your opinions out of the stories you write. But the blogosphere has allowed certain freedoms that didn't exist before. As someone who has covered and followed University of Maryland athletics since coming to The Baltimore Sun more than 25 years ago, I have the unique perspective of not only comparing coaches but athletic directors as well. I think it's too soon to judge Kevin Anderson's tenure in College Park, but in talking with Anderson for a story that appeared on the Sun's website Wednesday night and in the newspaper on Thursday, my feelings for the job he has done over the past 18 months have certainly changed.